Words To Live By
by yellowbrickrd
Summary: Late night reading for Olivia and Elliot.


Words To Live By

Ok, surprisingly not only do I not own the SVU clan, you can rest peacefully knowing that I didn't make up any of the quotes that you're about to read. I got them all from http/en. Also, this is another flutter moment. Flutters are just those parts of the stories that make you hold your breath, and in my case anyway, you don't realize that you're holding your breath until the end of the story. My sister and I have all of the flutters that we've written posted on this site: http/ This particular flutter is an EO. Now, RELEASE THE HOUNDS!

"Ok, people. Where are we on the Casanova case?"

"Ah, Casanova… the greatest wooer of all time," John Munch said with a classy arrogance as he walked into the room.

"Are you kidding me? What woman would fall for that line of crap?" Elliot Stabler said with a disgusted smile.

"Well, your partner looks like she's having one hell of a time putting that book down. She has had her nose stuck in it all day," Cragen said.

Olivia Benson sat in her chair captivated. She just couldn't put this book down. Every quote she read was like quick sand to her. She was sinking fast and what's worse… she didn't care. This Casanova case had really gotten to her. This "man" was preying on young, less than average looking girls. Girls that most likely didn't go to the prom, or have dates, and spent their whole high school career being a wall flower. He would seek them out and send secret admirer cards to them that had lines like, " The whisper of a beautiful woman can be heard further than the loudest call of duty ," or " Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood." And " She's beautiful, and therefore to be woo'd She is a woman, therefore to be won ". All stunning lines that would never work in a bar but somehow on paper seemed more real and less fake then coming out of a drunken idiot like diarrhea of the mouth. He would send these "love notes," then after a while send a card with one last quote on it and directions of where to meet him and then proceed to rape her. Leaving nothing behind but a red rose that had a note on it saying "You're Welcome, Casanova"

They had managed to track the book of quotes, which Olivia was soaking up like a sponge, when he messed up. A finger print had been left on a rose petal.

"Liv. Hey, Olivia." Tired of being ignored, Elliot wads up a piece of paper and hurls it at his partner, which hits her in the head.

"Hey, what was that for!"

"Capitan was right, you've had your nose in our best lead all day. What are you doing?"

"Research. Where is everybody?"

"Liv, it's 8:17. Everyone is gone."

"Oh." As she goes back to look at the book.

"Ok, let's hear it."

"What?"

"What has you so sucked in, that's what."

"You REALLY wanna know?"

"Yes. I REALLY wanna know what has managed to keep your attention for this entire day."

Olivia picked up the book and read the first couple of quotes that her eyes fell upon.

" Woman was taken out of man; not out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled underfoot; but out of his side to be equal to him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved ."

" Man loves little and often: Woman much and rarely." She stopped and put the book down. "That is just some of what has held my attention for so long. If it's hooked me for this long, I can totally see why these girls would have been floored with this."

"I never figured you for the "lovey-dovey" type stuff, Liv. I didn't know that that's the kind of stuff that melted your butter."

"It's amazing to me, Elliot, that we have known each other for this long and we still know so little about each other."

Not really believing it himself he said, "Come on, Liv, they're just words."

"Elliot you know as well as I do how convincing words can be. Just read them for yourself." She got up from her desk and sat on the edge of his, handing the book to him. He flipped open the book and read out loud the first couple of quotes on the page.

" Women have two weapons - cosmetics and tears." He laughed. "Ain't THAT the truth!"

"Just keep reading, smartass." She said with a smile.

" You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her ." His smile became less wide as he started to actually take the words in. He put the book on his desk and started to take it a little more seriously.

" You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. "

"If I never met you, I wouldn't like you. If I didn't like you, I wouldn't love you. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't miss you. But I did, I do, and I will. "

" I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out. "

He had to stop and clear his throat. He couldn't believe that these words could have such an impact on him. Everything he has ever felt for the woman sitting not six inches away from him was being poured out of his soul in the masquerade of this psycho's book. But he couldn't stop himself from reading more.

" I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies. "

"The worst thing you can do for love is deny it; so when you find that special someone, don't let anyone to anything get in your way ."

"You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel."

She wished he would never stop. She knew that these words weren't really coming from him. But she wanted to pretend for just a little bit longer. Unfortunately, Elliot didn't get that memo. He cleared his throat again...and just sat back in his chair, leaving the book open on his desk, looking intently at it. But upon closer inspection she saw his face was flushed. She smiled inwardly. Olivia knew that she wasn't the only one doing some heavy wishful thinking!

He was afraid to look at her. Afraid that his face would give him away. So what else is he supposed to do but make a smartass remark? "See, Liv? They're just words. No problem."

She didn't say anything. She simply picked up the book and started to read again.

"Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. Love me and I may be forced to love you. "

At this point Olivia gets up from the edge of Elliot's desk and walks back to her own, sitting back down in her chair and reads…

" Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you I had no control over. "

He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was beautiful and now it was her turn to look flushed. That was one of his best kept secrets. She would never know just how amazing she looked with that color of rosy pink on her cheeks. Olivia just sat there looking at him. And then her stomach dropped when she watched him get up and bring his chair with him over to her side of the desk and sit down so that his legs were on either side of her chair and she could feel his breath on the left side of her neck. He looked over her shoulder and read not much louder than a whisper…

" It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return, but what is the most painful is to love someone and never find the courage to let the person know how you feel. "

" No man is worth your tears, but once you find one that is, he won't make you cry ."

" Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own. " Then he took a breath before reading the next one. Slowly, just to make sure she understood where he was coming from.

" I'm not supposed to love you, I'm not supposed to care, I'm not supposed to live my life wishing you were there. I'm not supposed to wonder where you are or what you do...I'm sorry I can't help myself, I'm in love with you. " Then he got a little bit closer to her ear.

"When I saw you, I was afraid to meet you... When I met you, I was afraid to kiss you... When I kissed you, I was afraid to love you... Now that I love you, I'm afraid to lose you. "

Olivia's pulse quicken as she turned her head to her left and found Elliot's lips waiting for hers. She had no control anymore. She had to finally admit to herself that she had fallen head over heels completely in love with him.

Elliot did his best to memorize every surface of her that he touched. He couldn't get enough of her. They say that too much of a good thing is never good for you but he didn't care anymore. He wanted all that she was willing to give him.

When they finally came up for air Elliot smiled at her and said, "It's late and we haven't eaten yet. What do you say to me buying you dinner?" Liv smiled and gave him one more kiss. "Sure, just let me grab my stuff and use the little detectives' room and I'll be right with you."

She stood up and handed him the open book and walked away toward the bathroom. He looked down and read just loud enough so she couldn't hear…

" If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life. "

Ok, that's it. Does all that sap make you think you're standing in the middle of a pine tree yet? Lemme know!


End file.
